1.1 The text refers to itself as verbal entity (with implied or explicit boundaries): The medieval Mss A and B from the Cairo Geniza have no endings preserved. The opening of Ms. A, however, is preserved, and this seems to proclaim the text's awareness of itself as a bounded entity: it is addressed to "all you who know righteousness" (CD 1:1), and to "all who enter the covenant" (CD 2:2) by a governing voice speaking in the first person, which offers distinctive information to its target audience (CD 2:2-3). In particular, the governing voice informs its addressees: "I shall uncover your ear with regard to the ways of the wicked".

Full profile (Bibliography at the bottom):

1.1 The text refers to itself as verbal entity (with implied or explicit boundaries): The medieval Mss A and B from the Cairo Geniza have no endings preserved. The opening of Ms. A, however, is preserved, and this seems to proclaim the text's awareness of itself as a bounded entity: it is addressed to "all you who know righteousness" (CD 1:1), and to "all who enter the covenant" (CD 2:2) by a governing voice speaking in the first person, which offers distinctive information to its target audience (CD 2:2-3). In particular, the governing voice informs its addressees: "I shall uncover your ear with regard to the ways of the wicked".

1.1.1 [The text refers to itself using a genre term, speech act term, verb or other term implying verbal constitution: Although the beginning of 4Q266 fragment 1 a-b, which preserves the start of the text, is fragmentary, the end of the text has survived in 4Q266 fragment 11. Line 18 of this fragment preserves a sentence without lacunae: "And this is the perush of the statutes which they shall perform in every period...". The beginning of the text preserved in 4Q266 fragment 1 a-b is sufficiently clear to allow the reader to discern references in line 1 to "sons of light to keep apart from the way" and in line 2 the words "until the completion of the fixed times of visitation". The ending of the document, therefore, suggests that this text be classified in the Inventory as 1.1.1 - a text whose boundedness is self-declared at least as far as the section called the "Laws" is concerned. The whole Qumran composition, however, is probably a self-declared, bounded text: the definite reference to "every period" at the end of fragment 11 seems to reflect the concern with time preserved at the start of 4Q266. The initial concern with malefactors in that same fragment, along with divine wonders ("those who move boundaries", fragment 1 a-b line 4; God's "wonders", line 6) seems to be resumed at the end of the text with 4Q266 fragment 11, lines 7-16 and its reference to the expulsion of the rebel. But it must be emphasised that all this depends on interpretation of fragmentary material preserved in 4Q266 alone, and its attendant problems.]

1.1.2 [The text speaks of itself as dealing with an overall theme (subject matter) or purpose, or as consisting of coordinated parts making a whole: As far as the fragmentary nature of the document allows judging, the text appears to offer no bounded treatment of a subject matter, nor is it bounded by form. Rather, the text consists of two discursive-thematic part-texts (see 10.1), referred to in the this Profile as the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws", this nomenclature reflecting the usage in the scholarly literature. Each appears to have its own thematic agenda, and taken separately they are internally homogeneous aggregates (see 5.8/5.12) rather than internal thematic unities. The "Admonition/Exhortation" section employs narrative sentences, the narrative being illustrated and explained by means of interpreted Scriptural quotations, which detail the origins are formation of a group whose religious and moral stance is set forth. The "Laws" section offers regulations for that same group, setting forth a number of regulations as micro-topics, some of which are supplied with headings indicating their themes or sub-themes.]

1.1.4 The text introduces the governing voice, thereby indirectly marking its own boundedness: A speaking voice in the first person issuing imperatives is introduced in the beginning of the text: this applies to Ms. A from the Cairo Geniza [and to the Qumran fragments]. See 2.2.

1.4.2 [A small unit with a contrasting form from those used in the co-text appears at what reader hindsight discerns as a boundary point in the text: In 4Q266, a formal blessing addressed to God and uttered by a priest is cited at fragment 11 lines 9-14. This is the only direct speech in second level to be found in the extant witnesses.]

1.6 The approximate word count or other indication of comparative size is as follows: The Cairo Geniza Manuscripts A and B together contain approximately 3,890 words, Ms. A having aproximately 3,223 words, while Ms. B has approximately 667. This count was made from the printed edition of CD in Garcia Martinez and Tigchelaar, DSSSE, pp. 550-580. [The approximate number of words in the Qumran documents is as follows: 4Q266 has 1.078; 4Q267 has 239; 4Q268 has 68; 4Q269 has 92; 4Q270 has 570; 4Q271 has 368; 4Q272 has 100; and 4Q273 has 55. These numbers are very apporximate: they were derived from Baumgarten's edition, and include words which, although incomplete in the surviving fragments, may be restored with some probability.]

1.7 The text’s Inventory profile should be seen in the light of the following further information on completeness, etc: The text now commonly called the Damascus Document (CD) came to light with the discovery in the Cairo Geniza (1896-1897) of two manuscripts, one of the tenth century (Ms. A), the other of the twelfth (Ms. B). The editio princeps of these manuscripts was prepared by Solomon Schechter under the title "Fragments of a Zadokite Work" (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910). There is some overlap between Ms. A and Ms. B and, where this occurs (A pages 7-8; B pages 19-20), the texts sometimes diverge, with B displaying material which is independent of A. The relationship between A and B admits of no simple explanation. For the purposes of this profile (except word-count), the edition of Ch. Rabin has been used.
The manuscript discoveries at Qumran revealed ancient fragments of this same composition: caves 5 and 6 yielded small pieces of writing which, while certainly belonging to the document we now call CD, are generally too tiny for use in the present analysis. From Qumran Cave 4, however, larger sections of manuscript have survived: they are numbered 4Q266, 4Q267, 4Q268, 4Q269, 4Q270, 4Q271, 4Q272, and 4Q273. Noteworthy is 4Q266, which apparently preserves both the leading and concluding edges of the scroll - the only example of a Qumran manuscript of more than one sheet to do so (Baumgarten, p.24). We thus possess what is most probably the beginning (somewhat fragmentary) and the end of the document, at least in one form current in antiquity. The Qumran Cave 4 fragments in general agree with the mediaeval MSS of CD from the Cairo Geniza, diverging only in small details, mainly in orthography. For discussion, see Baumgarten, p. 6 (who notes that in the approximately 326 lines which MS A and the 4Q fragments have in common, there are fewer than 30 significant variants). The Geniza MSS present us with a text consisting of two large sections, the first an "Admonition" or "Exhortation", the second "Laws": some scholars had once suspected that these might have been two separate texts. The "Admonition/Exhortation" includes a strong narrative element, the details of which are interpreted, often with reference to Scripture. The "Laws" generally lack such narrative, this part of the document consisting for the most part of lists of regulations, generally without explicit reasons for these regulations being given. The Qumran evidence demonstrates that "Admonition/Exhortation" and "Laws" belonged together in antiquity, although the order of pages in some parts of the "Laws" remains uncertain. The palaeography of the Qumran Cave 4 manuscripts shows 4Q266 written in a Hasmonean semi-cursive script; 4Q267-270 and 4Q272-273 in formal Herodian script; and 4Q271 in late Hasmonean or early Herodian bookhand (Baumgarten, pp. 1-2). In respect of what has been said here, and of all that follows, it should be noted that all the witnesses to the Damascus Document are incomplete, and that future discoveries may modify, or invalidate, descriptions given here. CD is included in this Inventory because of its exceptional importance: the Inventory does, however, everywhere presuppose complete information about the overall shape and detail of a text, and thus can only remain speculative for CD.

2.2 A first-person voice imposes its perspective on all (or almost all) knowledge or norms conveyed in the text.

2.2.3 The first-person governing voice is not identified by name or unique identifier, but speaks of himself/herself in the first person at least once: The first person is used on the highest level of the governing voice at least for the first part of the document: given the fragmentary nature of the evidence, it cannot be said for certain that this first person continues as governing voice, though evidence presently available suggests that it probably does so. This first person governing voice does not identify itself.

2.2.4 The number and gender of the first-person governing voice are as follows:

2.2.4.1 The first person singular is used: The first person is also ungendered. Thus [4Q266 fr. 1 a-b line 5, "[listen] to me and I shall cause you to know... I shall recount..."; 4Q270 fr. 2.ii.19, "and now listen to me, all you that know righteousness... the Torah of God in your heart"]; Ms. A CD 2:2 "And now listen to me all who come into the covenant, and I shall uncover your ears"; CD 2:14 "Listen to me, and I shall uncover your eyes...".

2.4 The governing voice defines a horizon of knowledge as shared with the projected addressee by taking for granted the following linguistic usages or references (in selection):

2.4.1 Persons or unique objects referred to by proper name or by technical expression:

2.4.1.1 for persons mentioned or presented in narrative usage; as characters; or topics, for example: biblical characters are very frequently named, names of such persons occurring far more often in this document than names of places. Non-biblical proper names, however, are rare, being confined to Jannes (CD 5:18) and Greece (CD 8:11). All proper names are taken for granted, and not explained.

2.4.1.6 for documents, texts, books, etc. (identified through being referred to or quoted), for example: The Book of the Torah CD 7:15; [4Q266.8.i.3]; Books of the Prophets 7:17; The Torah of Moses 15:2, 9; 16:2, 5; [4Q266 fr. 11]; The Book of the Divisions of the Times into their Jubilees and Weeks 16:3-4; The Book of HGY/HGW 10:6; 13:2; 14:8. There is a possible reference to the Testament of Levi, 4:15-16, which mentions "three nets of Belial, about which Levi the son of Judah declared...", although this may refer to the Patriarch Levi himself as a speaker, rather than to a text.

2.4.2 circumlocutions, names or descriptions employed as “code” names: Designators functioning as code names are common, as, for example, CD Moreh 20:28; Moreh Zedeq 7:17; 20:32; Moreh Ha-Yahid 20:1, 14; Yoreh Ha-Zedeq 6:11; The Men of the Yahad 20:32; The Scoffer 1:14; The Spouter 4:19; The Man of the Lie 20:15; The Sons of the Pit 6:15; Tzav 4:19; The Interpreter of the Torah 7:18; The Prince of the Whole Congregation 7:19; The Men of Scoffing 20:11; The House of Peleg 20:22 (although this may refer to the actual name of a group of people); The Anointed One of Aaron and Israel 12:23-13:1; 14:19 (fragmentary, though likely reading); Ms. B 19:11:10-11; and Anointed One from Aaron and Israel Ms. B 20:1. It is entirely possible that the addressees could more or less without difficulty recognize the persons designated by these expressions, although their identity is veiled. The document also mentions a covenant situated in the "Land of Damascus", which serves as the conceptual locale for normative behaviour not only in the meta-narrative, but also in the following legal sections. Although in itself a geographical reference, scholars dispute whether "Damascus" is a "real" or a "symbolic" location. If it is the latter, its function as an indicator of normative behaviour is enhanced. CD 4:2; 6:5 indicate that members of the new covenant in the Land of Damascus have come out of the Land of Judah, a place where (presumably) normative behaviour as described in the document is not possible.

2.4.3 The text as a whole routinely employs the following language, knowledge of which is taken for granted: Hebrew, which is used throughout the document.

2.4.4 Special linguistic usages occur pervasively or prominently: They are taken for granted in both the medieval Mss [and the 4Q fragments], redolent of the idiolect known from other Qumran documents: see Elisha Qimron, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986).

2.4.4.3 Technical expressions for the meta-linguistic presentation of another text (see 6.9.4): CD 4:14 uses the term "pesher".

2.4.4.4 Biblicizing language, such that the text may be assumed to project itself as having a link to texts today known as biblical (see 7.1.4.1).

2.6 The text presents itself as speaking to certain persons, groups or entities, explicitly projecting a certain image of its addressee.

2.6.2 The projected addressee is characterized as having a certain moral or epistemic stance, or as standing in contrast to another group’s moral or epistemic stance: Thus at CD 1:1 we encounter the imperative "And now hear, all who know righteousness, and give heed to the deeds of God" [and cf. 4Q266.2.i.6; 4Q270.2.ii.19]; 2:2 "And now listen to me, all who come into the covenant, and I will uncover your ear as regards the ways of the wicked"; 2:14 "And now listen to me, O sons, and I will uncover your eyes to see and to understand the deeds of God... and to reject what He hates".

5.5 The text’s sequence of sub-topics (discursive or narrative) mirrors a temporal or spatial order, but without narrative emplotment between the sub-topics. Or it mirrors the sequence of units of meaning in another text (from single words to whole books), while not reproducing the relationships between those parts, not using quotations from it as lemmatic progression (i.e., no 6.1), and not creating narrative emplotment: In the "Admonition/Exhortation" section, the text’s sequence of sub-topics (discursive or narrative) mirrors a temporal or spatial order, but without narrative emplotment between the sub-topics. The sequence of themes in the "Admonition/Exhortation" mirrors a perceptible temporal order for parts of the text, and that temporal order itself becomes a theme, providing a discursive treatment of narrative time: see further 5.12.

5.5.1 This order includes all parts of the text (excepting any frames), as follows: In the "Admonition/Exhortation" section, there is an explicit framing of the schematic description of events in Geniza Ms. A inasmuch as the opening of the document refers directly to God's hiding his face from Israel, while leaving a remnant which he visited 390 years after the days of Nebuchadnezzar. This chronological and spatial information provides the starting point for the series of events and their sequence described in CD 4:5 and thereafter.

5.5.1.1.1 In the "Admonition/Exhortation" section, the temporal order corresponds to a sequence of actions which is in itself, as a sequence, normative: As far as the "Admonition/Exhortation" is concerned, the temporal order which the governing voice presents refers to the history of Israel as a whole, along with the history of a group whose identity and career is taken for granted as being known to the addressees. This group's orgins and growth are presented as normative, inasmuch as the group's moral, religious, and legal stance is understood by the governing voice to coincide exactly with God's will. The history of the groups' origins form a preamble to the "Admonition/Exhortation" (CD 1:3-2:1), starting with Israel's history supplied with a temporal indicator (390 years, CD 1:5-6), which allows a shift to the history of the group, styled a remnant "plant root". A further temporal marker (20 years, CD 1:9-10), links this latter groupto the emergence of Moreh Zedeq (1:11) and a description of the opposition he engendered.

5.5.2 This order defines only a continuous substantial part of the text, as follows: the "Admonition/Exhortation".

5.5.2.1.1 Additionally, the temporal order corresponds to a sequence of actions which is in itself, as a sequence, normative: this applies to the "Admonition/Exhortation".

5.5.2.2 A temporal order provides the sequence for continuous non-normative (and non-narrative) information in part of the text: this applies to the "Admonition/Exhortation".

5.7 Adjacent text parts constituting themes are merely juxtaposed or weakly conjoined, while there is no indication of an overall objective relationship (so no 5.6, 5.2.1, 5.3.1, 5.4.1 or 5.5.1.1–3): In the "Laws" section one finds weakly managed juxtaposition and aggregation of micro-topics. These may be introduced by 'al, "concerning": "concerning a woman's oath" CD 16:10, followed at once by "concerning the ordinance for voluntary offerings 16:12; "concerning the oath" 9:8; "concerning the purification with water" 10:10, followed immediately by "concerning the Sabbath, etc." 10:14, with laws concerning purification resumed, along with other topics, from 12:15 onwards. [4Q270 3.ii.19 may be noted here, although the text is incomplete: "[concerning the two] loaves of the terumah...".] Some of the micro-topics command extensive treatment, as in the case of the Sabbath, and certain oaths detailed at the start of CD 15. Yet other micro-topics are announced under the deixis-heading "this is the serekh": see below, 9.6.2 and 9.6.3. Note also CD 12:20, "and these are the ordinances for the Msskil", referring to preceding rulings. Any overarching rationale for the juxtaposition and arrangement of the sentences and micro-topics in their present sequence, however, is hard to discern. Baumgarten, DJD XVIII, p. 15, even suggests that in places the "catchword" principle may operate, citing CD 11:16-17, where the words 'l y'lh prohibiting the bringing up of a man from a water-pool by means of ladder or rope is followed by a prohibtion of any sacrifice on Sabbath other than that prescribed by Scripture, introduced by the words 'l y'l.

5.8 The bulk of the text consists of small forms and patterns drawn from a limited set of formats for thematic articulation or for discussion (further section 8): The bulk of the "Laws" section in Ms. A is constituted by the recursive use of small forms: pervasive here are the hypothetical legal case and the unconditional norm. In this same legal section, the organization of these small forms may be categorized as weakly managed juxtaposition and aggregation of micro-topics: see 5.7.

5.9 The text’s governing voice projects the accuracy or validity of its statements as:

5.9.2 Admitting discussion or disagreement, or the need for argument and evidence in principle: This applies to both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" sections.

5.9.4 The following argument types occur:

5.9.4.3 Predominantly or exclusively arguments from the quoted wording of another text (e.g. paraphrases, interpretation units, proof texts): In both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" sections, the governing voice admits the need for argument, and produces evidence from Scripture in support of its stance on various topics. Significant examples include the famous matter of a man "taking a second wife while the first is alive", in which Gen. 1:27 and Deut. 17:17 are adduced as evidence (CD 4:19-5:4); and the prohibition of uncle-neice marriage on the basis of interpretation of Lev. 18:13 (CD 5:9). Note also the use of Malachi 1:10 at CD 6:11-14; of Prov. 15:8 at CD 11:18-22; and Micah 7:2 at CD 16:14-15.

5.12 The text thematizes the meaning of historical or narrative events and summarizes, alludes to or refers to events as evidence, but does not create sustained emplotment (contrast 4.7): In the "Admonition/Exhortation" section, the text explains the meaning of narrative events without thereby becoming either narrative or lemmatic in arrangement. In the course of this meta-narrative discourse, the chronology of narrated events appears to be presupposed. This part-text sets out a distinctive and explicit "theory" of God's activity in the past, the present, and the future, with humanity in general, with Israel, and, more particularly, with that "remnant" who accept the words of the Teacher and will eventually be described as Yahad. This meta-narrative involves a distinctive understanding of Scripture's prophecies to make sense of past, present, and future events, and a particular understanding of Scriptural and non-scriptural laws. The following aspects of this explanation of historical and narrative events may be noted. (i) Ms. A CD 1:1-8:21 and Ms. B CD 19:1-20:34 present a series of events which single out certain periods as being of particular significance, such that periodisation becomes a principle of organization. Thus, the text's introduction (CD 1:3-2:1) refers to an "age of wrath" (1:5), 390 days (1:5-6), and a "time" of which Scripture speaks (1:13). The document's description of God's foreknowledge of the wicked refers clearly to specific periods: God knew/knows the "years of their existence" and their "set times" and "exact epochs" (Rabin's rendering at 2:9-10). There is periodisation of biblical history at 3:1-12; of later history at 5:20, "at the time of the desolation of the Land"; at 20:22-24, with its reference to "the house of Peleg who went out ... and leaned on God in the period when Israel acted sacrilegiously"; and of "future history" at 19:35-20:1, "from the day of the gathering in of the unique Teacher or: Teacher of the Yahad) until the Messiah arise from Aaron and Israel". (ii) There are meta-narrative explanations accompanying this periodisation of history: in the "Admonition/Exhortation" section of Ms. A, for example, the time of the appearance of the Teacher of Righteousness and of The Scoffer is defined as having already been designated by Scripture (CD 1:13-15), and those who belong to the Teacher's group are destined for a particular future as God through Ezekiel the prophet had already declared (CD 3:19-4:4). (iii) Characterisation of particular figures with respect to their moral or religious qualities within the narrative is prominent, such that the "code names" (see 2.4.2) ascribed to certain characters are also moral and/or religious signifiers. Thus we hear of The Scoffer (CD 1:14; cf. 20:11); the Spouter (4:19); The Man of the Lie (20:15); The Teacher, variously named as The Teacher of Righteousness (1:11; 20:32), Unique Teacher (20:1), and The One who Teaches Righteousness (6:11); and Doresh Ha-Torah, The Interpreter of the Torah (7:18). The Teacher is equipped with spiritual and intellectual gifts direct from God (1:11-12), as are others (by implication) such as "the men of discernment from Aaron" and the "men of wisdom from Israel" (6:2-3). (iv) Causation and motivation in the action described are often explicitly presented as supernatural: thus God observed the remnant's deeds and raised for them the Teacher (CD 1:10-11); to this remnant, God revealed hidden things, Sabbaths,appointed times, etc. (3:13-15); God caused the group's founders to act according to Scriptural prediction, as given by Numb. 21:18 - they are the "nobles" mentioned in that verse, becauser God made them so. (v) The Teacher is fully integrated into one group, the "remnant" and its predecessors about which CD speaks, while in conflict with Jews outside this group, a fundamental datum which forms the basis for episodes described in the "Adminition/Exhortation" in Mss A and B. The element of conflict between one group and another "outside" group is also implicit in the "Laws" in Ms. A, and forms one aspect of the functional complementation of the two part-texts: see 10.1.1.2.

7.1 Narrative or thematic correspondences, or overlap of specific wording, occur between a non-biblical text and one or more biblical texts in a manner that is prominent or pervasive.

7.1.1.3 Only minor character(s) of the text correspond to character(s) in a biblical text(s), whether minor or major: Although many biblical characters are named in the text, they either play only minor roles, or are mentioned in passing. See 2.4.1.1.

7.1.1.4 The first-person narrator of the text is a non-biblical character.

7.1.2 Chronology, physical setting or emplotment correspond between the non-biblical narrative and the narrative of a biblical text or texts: to illustrate the history of the Yahad and its opponents, the "Admonition/Exhortation" presents thematic discourse which selectively utilises some of the details of biblical narrative as they are presented in the biblical books, without alteration of chronological or narrative details. In such cases, the biblical narrative sequence is taken for granted. This mirroring of biblical stories is tied to a periodization of history which the governiong voice deems necessary for a correct appreciation of the Yahd's status and function.

7.1.2.1.3 The text tends to narrate the story through events described in less detail or through fewer events than a biblical partner text: Where the "Admonition/Exhortation" makes use of sections of biblical narrative, it tends to abbreviate the biblical information.

7.1.2.2 While the narrative covers the same chronological-spatial ground or plot as a biblical text, it lacks extended speeches found in that biblical text.

7.1.3 There is prominent use of explicit quotations of biblical wording, whether in non-narrative or in narrative (but not in biblical commentary, for which see section 6): For a list of scriptural quotations in both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws", see Rabin, Zadokite Documents, pp. 78-80. Examples include (in Ms, A) CD 3:21-4:1 citing Ezek. 44:15; CD 6:3-4 citing Numb. 21:18 and Isa. 54:16; CD 7:14-15 citing Amos 5:16-17; and (in Ms. B) CD 19:22-24 citing Deut. 32:33.

7.1.4 The text shares features of language with the Hebrew Bible, or exhibits tacit overlap with specific biblical wording, whether narrative or not.

7.1.4.1 There are pervasive biblical linguistic features (vocabulary, morphology or syntax) or a pervasive use of unspecific biblical language, such as generic biblical phrases or single words: See, for example, CD 1:4 and the description of God hiding His face (cf. Ezek. 39:23); CD 1:18 and its mention of "smooth things" and "illusions" (cf. Isa. 30:10); CD 6:16-17 and its remarks on widows and orphans (cf. Isa. 10:2); CD 9:9 on taking the law into one's own hands (cf. 1 Sam. 25:26); CD 12:3 on the ghost and familiar spirit (cf. Lev. 20:27); and many other instances. In both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" such biblical linguistic features are not reformulated in the language of the text.

7.1.4.2 The text contains prominently the wording of specific biblical passages such as whole sentences or unique biblical phrases, used in a tacit manner: For examples, see the allusion in CD 5:13 to Isa. 50:11; 59:5; compare CD 5:16-17 illustrating God's visitation of the opponents' evil deeds and His anger with Isa. 27:11; Deut. 32:28; and note CD 20:2-22 tacitly referring to Mal. 3:18 and Exod. 20:6 in concluding a section dealing with those loyal to the covenant. In these and some other instances, there is no explicit indication of the source of the Scriptural wording, or any hint that the words may not be those of the governing voice. Their wording is not reformulated in the language of the text. [CD 6:3-4 utilises Numb. 21:18 as if it were the words of the governing voice; but the parallel passage in 4Q266 3.ii.10 appears to introduce the words from Numbers with the formula: "of which Moses said".] See also 8.1.4.1.

7.1.4.2.1 The tacit overlap of specific wording extends regularly to whole sentences or to extensive sentence groupings, found alongside sentences or sentence parts not found in that biblical partner text.

7.1.5.3 The epistemic stance of the governing voice (narrative or not, first person or not) can be interpreted as falling into the same generic category as one of the following stances also adopted in biblical texts:

7.1.5.3.1 The conveyance of personally received verbal or visual revelation: prophecy model.

7.1.8.1 The text presupposing biblical narrative fabric has a thematic structure of discourse: The "Admonition/Exhortation" employs sections of biblical narrative to support its discursive account of the origins of the group to whose members the governing voice speaks, and to account for the characteristic stance of this group in relation to the rest of Israel. The periodisation of history in the "Admonition/Exhortation" in both Mss A and B is managed throughout by allusion to biblical events, personalities, and prophecies.

7.2.5 There are prominent single allusions to specific wording found in a non-biblical partner text: There is explicit quotation in Ms. A at CD 4:16 of what might be a passage from the Testament of Levi. CD 16:3-4 names a text, The Book of the Divisions of the Times into Their Jubilees and Weeks, which many scholars consider to be the Book of Jubilees, although this identification is disputed: the latter is quoted without citation formula at CD 10:10. The phrase "root of planting" in CD 1:7 recalls Jubilees 1: 16; 7:34; 1 Enoch 10:16; 84:6. The expression "walk uprightly in all His ways" at CD 2:16 occurs also in Jubilees 21:2. The command to eat on the Sabbath only food that has been prepared earlier, CD 10:21, is found also at Jubilees 2:29; 50:8.

8.1.3 Sentence with theme anticipated to the beginning and repeated in a pronoun or by ellipsis: occasional. For examples, see CD 9:8; 16:10, 13; and compare 9.6.2.

8.1.4 Unit of a biblical quotation together with a hermeneutically dependent formulation; midrashic unit: pervasive. Different formats are used for introducing these. (i) Scriptural verses may be quoted with introductory formula, and then atomised for hermeneutic operation: see, for example, CD 3:21-4:1; 6:3-4; 7:14-15, 19-21. (ii) Scripture is quoted with introductory formula, and commentary introduced by the term pishro follows at once. There is a single example of this, at 4:14ff. (iii) Scripture is quoted with introductory formula and is at once followed by comment statement: see 5:18ff.; 8:3ff.; 19:26ff. This format is found in the "Adminition/Exhortation" and in the "Laws". (iv) Comment precedes citation of Scriptural verse, 10:16; 16:15.

8.1.10 List sentence enumerating items by words or phrases: see, for example, CD 11:19-20, and list of items at 3:14-15. [4Q270.2.ii.1-17 has a "list of transgressions formulated with ... and a verb in the imperfect", as noted by Baumgarten, pp. 12-13, 144-145 enumerating ten misdemeanours.]

8.1.12 Explicit claim that in a particular formulation other information in the immediate co-text is being summarized or generalized: see, for example, 12:20, "and these are the ordinances..."; 14:17, 18 "and this is the precise statement of..."; "and this is the exact statement of the statutes which they shall perform...". [See also 4Q266.11, lines 18 ff.]

8.1.14 Prayer, doxology, valediction or blessing: [Blessing in text's voice in frame position at end of text, 4Q266.11. lines 8-14.]

9.6 An extended portion or substantial proportion of the text continuously explicates local thematic transitions, by means of:

9.6.2 Use of announcement of themes for text parts, full-sentence headings or summaries: There is some limited, explicit announcement of text parts, mostly confined to the "Laws" section. Thus micro-topics may be introduced as follows: by the preposition 'al with announcement of subject matter, "concerning X..." (CD 9:8); "And this is the serekh for X..." (CD 10:4; 12:22; 13:7; 14:12); "Serekh for the assembly of the cities of Israel" (CD 12:19) following a rule about corpse defilement of nails and pegs; "Serekh of the session of all the camps" (CD 14:13); and this is the perush of X..." (CD 14:17, 18 but fragmentary).

9.6.3 Use of explicit reference to the textual position or sequence of information, articulating the passage as having coordinated parts: There is evidence in Ms. A of the use of discourse deixis signalling sequence of information and articulating the text as having co-ordinated parts. Thus CD 10:4 "And this is the serekh of the judges of the congregation"; CD 12:23 "And this is the serekh of the session of [the] c[amps]"; CD 13:7 "And this is the serekh of the overseer of the camp"; "And [this] is the serekh of the many to prepare...".

9.13 Physical evidence from antiquity potentially shows non-verbal signals indicating (an interpretation of) the text’s thematic division: Ms. A frequently employs vacat (blank space), which generally corresponds with sense divisions in the text, CD 1:11; 2:2 preceding the exhortation to addressees to "Hear!"; 2:3; 2:13-14 preceding a second exhortation to addressees to "Hear!"; 3:4; 3:14 before a list of items in which Israel went astray. Vacat follows quotation of Scripture, CD 4:14; separates discrete elements of commentary and Scripture 6:2-8; and precedes quotation of Scripture, 8:14. In the "Laws", vacat very frequently separates one ruling from another (e.g., CD 16 throughout). There is occasional evidence of supralinear vocalization (1:2, 10; 2:16; 5:8; 7:6) and, very occasionally, sublinear pointing (1:11, 20). The 'aleph and lamed of the name "Israel" are commonly abbreviated, as they are at the beginning of the name Eleazar (5:4). There are very few scribal corrections: for an example, see 12:2. Ms. B. uses vacat in much the same manner as Ms. A. Supralinear pointing is used more frequently than in A; soph pasuq may be used (e.g., 20:3, 10, 15); but no instances of sublinear vocalization were detected. This Ms. presents several scribal corrections and erasures.
[The Mss from Qumran Cave 4 display distinctive characteristics. (i) The Divine title 'el is written in Palaeo-Hebrew script by the scribes of 4Q267 occasionally (otherwise in square script), and of 4Q268 throughout. (ii) Scribal marks of uncertain meaning are found in 4Q266, fragment 1, lines 4 and 21, in the right hand margin. (iii) Scribal corrections are common, with individual letters written above words in interlinear spaces, and whole phrases inserted in interlinear space. In 4Q266 fragment 6 three words written in the left hand margin have been crossed out. The scribe of 4Q271 highlighted changes to the main texts with dots above or below the letters concerned, marking the correction in the interlinear space; and 4Q272 presents four words written in the left hand margin of fragment 1. There seems general agreement amongst students of the manuscripts in light of this evidence that none of the fragments represents the autograph of CD. (iv) Spaces are occasionally left between words and phrases, though it is difficult to perceive a regular pattern in in the appearances of vacat. It may be found (a) before what seems to be a new section, indicating transition to a different theme or micro-topic. Examples of this would be 4Q266 2.ii.2 "before him. vacat. And now lis[ten to me...]; 5.i.17 "the latter [interpretation of the] Torah. vacat. And these are the ordin[ances..."; 5.ii.7 "...within in the parokhet. vacat. And he shall not eat of the [most] holy things..."; 5.ii.14 "...in genealogy. vacat. And this is the serekh for the dwelling". (b) In presence of a Scriptural quotation: 4Q266 8.ii.8 has vacat preceding the formula 'asher 'amar which is itself followed by a vacat preceding quotation of what is probably Lev. 27::29; 4Q266 3.iii.2, following quotation of lemma "all the sons of Seth" and preceding the next phrase "The[se escaped...]"; 4Q270 6.iii.15 and 16, where vacat probably precedes Scriptural quotations which are then interpreted, no vacat separating comment from lemma.
These examples, however, are somewhat complicated by the presence of vacat for no very clear reason, as, for example, at 4Q266 2.ii.10, 11, "before vacat [it happens in their respective periods...]...called ones vacat [so as to leave a remnant...]. In line 12 of this same section, however, the vacat seems to mark a sense division. Most puzzling is 4Q266 8.iii.5 on the ten chosen men "[who have under]standing vacat in the book of HHGY".]

10.1 The text consist of the juxtaposition of large constituent part-texts, each of which has its own thematic, lemmatic or narrative structure (e.g., for thematic part-texts, one of 1.1–3, 5.2–6, or 5.7.1–2 apply): Note once again that all witnesses to this text are incomplete, and that descriptions given in the Inventory are thus necessarily provisional. The medieval Ms. A juxtaposes a discursive "Admonition/Exhortation" along with the discursive "Laws", each of the two having its own distinctive character through its prominent subject matter. Thus the "Admonition/Exhortation" employs narrative sentences, which include the interpretation of Scriptural verses which make sense of the narrative contents, to convey and justify the religious and moral teaching accompanmying the narrative material. The "Laws" section contains regulations for members of the group introduced in the "Admonition/Exhortation". These cover a variety of topics, and are expressed in sentences which may be classified as either unconditional or conditional norms (see 8.1.1 and 8.1.2). In the case of the "Admonition/Exhortation", the introduction of a first person governing voice helps to determine aspects of this boundedness. The relationship between "Admonition/Exhortation" and "Laws" is here interpreted as not being one of unity of text parts, but as one of - tacit? - functional complementation of part-texts. The relationship of these two part-texts can be interpreted as being literary-functional in terms of the "Admonition/Exhortation" part-text describing a particular society, while the "Laws" provide rules for the members of that same society. It is, however, perfectly possible that the transition point from "Admonition/Exhortation" to "Laws", no longer extant in the evidence at our disposal, would have been not tacit, or would have presented this relationship in different terms altogether. In any case, the evidence of the Qumran documents strongly supports the view that "Admonition/Exhortation" and "Laws" were part of the same text from ancient times.

10.1.1 The part-texts are of the same kind, i.e., all narrative, all thematic or all lemmatic: The part-texts are all thematic.

10.1.1.2 The part-texts juxtaposed are all thematic-discursive or thematic-descriptive, dealing with substantially diverse kinds of subject matter: The text of Ms. A consists of a juxtaposition of discursive and thematic part-texts which do not resemble each other in terms of subject matter.

10.1.1.2.1 Their sequential relationship suggests that they complement each other, at least weakly: There is, however, a relationship between the two part-texts which is complementary, such that the discursive "Admonition/Exhortation" provides the foundations and motivations necessary for the "Laws", obligations set out as micro-topics organized as thematic-aggregate. The element of conflict (see 5.12) explicit in the "Admonition/Exhortation" and implicit in the "Laws" provides a further basis for a complementary relationship between the two part-texts.

11.1 The non-narrative text projects its thematic concern as being mainly one or more of the following:

11.1.2 Moral values or value judgments, including practical instructions on proper behaviour or self-preservation: Both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" present descriptions of values, morals, and modes of conduct for the reader in this world.

11.1.3 Law, commandments or norms of behaviour: Both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" contain human obligations and norms.

11.1.5 The meaning of another text: Both the "Admonition/Exhortation" and the "Laws" concern themselves with the meaning of Scripture.

11.2.1 The reported events are those of a biblical past, or of a biblically foretold future: The contents of the "Admonition/Exhortation" include a treatment of the biblical past and the biblically foretold future.

12.1 Sampling of genre labels applied to the text in secondary literature: "Admonition/Exhortation" takes form of a sermon or extracts from several sermons; "Laws" combine legal and moral precepts set out in discrete units according to their subject matter (Schuerer III.1, pp.390-391). The relationship of "Adminition/Exhortation" to the "Laws" has biblical precedent, especially the book Deuteronomy (Schuerer III.1, p. 393). The "Admonition/Exhortation" compares with similar types of writing in texts like Testaments of XII Patriarchs; 4 Maccabees, Epistle to the Hebrews; and 1 Peter; while the "Laws" adumbrate collections like those found in the Mishnah and Tosefta (Vermes, Dead Sea Scrolls: Qumran in Perspective, p. 44).